Advice(Mistakes)

 Own It(professional)

Mistakes happen. Every one of us makes them. What matters isn’t whether you make a mistake—it’s how you handle it when you do.

When I’ve made mistakes, I’ve owned them. I’ve “ratted myself out” on numerous occasions. I’ve called supervisors, training officers, and others in positions of authority and told them exactly what happened. I laid it out clearly: what the situation was, what I did, and whether there were any consequences.

I’ve been fortunate never to be in a situation where someone was hurt because of a mistake, and I hope I never am. But sometimes the mistake was outside protocol or just wasn’t right. Once I realized that, I made the call. That’s the right thing to do.

I’ve also seen plenty of people try to hide their mistakes. And I’ve never seen that work out well. It always comes back to bite them. Maybe not immediately, but eventually. People are always watching—especially now. Everyone has a phone. There are cameras everywhere. CCTV, dash cams, body cams, and doorbell cameras on half the houses you walk into.

 If you operate like you’re always being recorded, you’re far more likely to do the right thing. And if you find yourself on the wrong side of a decision, tell someone. Mistakes don’t define you. Cover-ups do.

Another thing I tell people is this: never make the same mistake twice. The best lessons to learn are from other people’s mistakes—not your own. Pay attention. Learn. Adjust.

Do the best you can. Use your lifelines. Keep reading. Keep training. Keep learning. The goal isn’t perfection—it’s growth. Be the best version of you that you can be.

Hide or avoid it(Personal)

I have made a lot of mistakes in my personal life. I’ll be the first to tell you—I’m not always quick to admit them. I’ve messed up as a husband, father, son, Christian, and just as a man.

I’ve said things I shouldn’t have said. Stayed quiet when I should’ve spoken. Made decisions I knew were wrong as I made them. And if I’m being real, most of it wasn’t because I didn’t know better. It was because I chose what I wanted in the moment over what I knew was right.

It’s easy to hide that. Easy to justify it. Easy to move on and act like it’s not a big deal. I’ve done all of that. But here’s the truth—none of that fixes anything. Ignoring it doesn’t fix it. Time doesn’t fix it. Silence doesn’t fix it.

Owning it does.

And that’s where it gets uncomfortable. Because owning it means no excuses. No blame shifting. No softening the story to make yourself look better. Sometimes the problem isn’t the situation. It’s not stress. It’s not the other person.

Sometimes the problem is you.

That’s a hard pill to swallow—but it’s the only place real change starts. I don’t have this figured out. Not even close. But I’m learning to be quicker to own it, quicker to admit it, and quicker to try to do better. Because at the end of the day, that’s part of it—own your mistakes, learn from them, and don’t keep making the same ones.

Everyone makes mistakes. Professionals own them. Men of character learn from them and don’t keep repeating them.